In OnSkull Games' cozy organizing simulator, Wand and Order (titled Wand & Order: Tidy up the magic shop!), putting scattered objects back on their designated shelves is only half the battle. After an apprentice's cleaning spell accidentally spirals into a destructive vortex, players must restore three massive zones: The Archives, The Wand Workshop, and The Alchemy Lab.
Alongside sorting hundreds of tarot cards, wands, and potion containers, completing each area requires finishing traditional housekeeping chores. One core task that players encounter across all levels is cleaning picture frames. This guide covers how picture frame cleaning works, where the tools are located, how dirty paintings connect to level progression and secrets, and the best ways to knock them out efficiently.
How Cleaning Picture Frames Works
Unlike shelf sorting, which relies on matching item categories and placing items into slots, cleaning picture frames is an active surface chore that requires a dedicated tool from the workshop supply area.
Grabbing the Cleaning Sponge
To clean dirty paintings and wall frames, you must locate the cleaning supplies in each zone:
- Locate the supply closet or cleaning station near the starting area of the zone.
- Pick up the sponge tool.
- When you hold the sponge, an objective counter appears in the upper-left corner of the heads-up display (HUD), tracking how many paintings or dirty frames you have restored out of the zone's total (for example, showing your progress toward seven paintings).
- Approach a dirty portrait or frame hanging on the wall and interact with it. Your character will wipe away the grime, restoring the portrait underneath.
- Once a painting is cleaned, you do not need to walk all the way back to the closet to put the sponge away. You can drop the sponge on the floor using right-click and pick it back up whenever you are ready to resume cleaning.
Picture Frame Objectives Across the Three Zones
Every zone introduces a fresh set of rooms, expanded floors, and dirty wall decorations.
| Zone | Primary Sorting Items | Approximate Painting Count | Associated Secondary Tasks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zone 1: The Archives | Tarot cards (~470 items) | Around 4 to 8 frames / side objectives | Mopping floor dirt spills, watering bushes and mushroom pots, clearing cobwebs |
| Zone 2: The Wand Workshop | Magic wands (~1,300 items) | 7 paintings | Clearing cobwebs with spells, watering plants, sweeping floor dirt |
| Zone 3: The Alchemy Lab | Potions and reagents (2,200+ items) | 7 paintings | Sweeping 16 floor stains, watering plants, clearing cobwebs |
Zone 1: The Archives
The Archives serves as the introduction to the game's mechanics. As you organize scattered tarot card decks into their respective suits and arcana shelves, a secondary task list appears in the corner of your screen.
Several picture frames depicting cats, dogs, and mystical subjects are coated in dust and grime. Grabbing the sponge allows you to clear these frames while exploring the ground floor. Restoring all the paintings, clearing cobwebs, and watering the starter plants completes the side checklist required for clearing the shop.
Zone 2: The Wand Workshop
The Wand Workshop expands the layout into a multi-floor building with roughly 1,300 items to sort. In this zone, there are seven distinct paintings hanging on the walls.
Players can find these frames along the perimeter walls, hallway paths leading between sorting counters, and near the office desks. Because several frames blend into the background shadows or sit near stairwells, keeping the sponge in hand helps you monitor the HUD counter (such as 1/7 paintings) to ensure none are left behind before attempting to activate the exit portal.
Zone 3: The Alchemy Lab
The third zone is a massive, multi-tiered facility featuring thousands of reagent jars, tins, and vials. Just like Zone 2, the cleaning checklist includes seven picture frames.
Two frames hang down the ground-floor hallway corridors, others line the walls near the central potion workstations, and additional portraits can be found along the upper floor perimeters. Because floor space in the lab is enormous, clearing these frames early prevents backtracking when only a handful of stray ingredients remain.
Environmental Clues and Hidden Key Unlocks
Cleaning and inspecting picture frames is not just about checking off an objective list; portraits often double as environmental puzzles.
Throughout the game, progression chests are locked behind hidden keys. These chests grant essential upgrades, such as mobility enhancements (like double jump) and carrying capacity upgrades that raise your inventory limit from the base six items up to ten or more.
To guide players toward these keys, the game features subtle wall etchings and portrait icons:
- In Zone 2 and Zone 3, wall markers and portraits (such as a dog portrait or statue symbol, curtain icons, or grandfather clocks) signal nearby hidden interactables.
- In Zone 2, investigating near a dog statue and matching clues reveals a key, unlocking mobility and carry capacity chests.
- In Zone 3, dog portrait artwork corresponds to search spots near statues and desks where keys are hidden.
While player reviews note that you often stumble across the keys naturally while scouring shelves, paying attention to the subjects inside the picture frames helps you locate chests and hidden keys much faster.
Strategy: Integrating Chores into Speedruns
If you are aiming for achievements such as Beat the Clock (finishing the game in under 3 hours) or simply want to optimize your solo workflow, dedicating long stretches solely to cleaning frames can slow down your momentum. Community speedrunners and players recommend a specific routine:
- Clean During Spell Cooldowns: As you unlock and upgrade active sorting abilities like Magnetic Vacuum (which pulls matching nearby items into your hands), you will experience brief cooldown periods. Instead of idling while the spell recharges, pick up the sponge, clean a nearby picture frame or water a single plant, drop the tool with right-click, and immediately cast your spell again.
- Clear While Exploring for Chests: Grab the cleaning sponge at the start of a stage when you run to grab the watering can or search for the stage's hidden keys. Cleaning paintings as you traverse hallways saves you from making dedicated laps later.
- Use the In-Game Counters: Never leave an area wondering if a painting was missed. Checking the top-left HUD prompt when holding the sponge confirms whether you are sitting at 7/7 completed frames.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you need to clean all picture frames to beat a level?
Yes. To fully complete an area and unlock the exit portal to the next shop, all secondary cleaning objectives—including cleaning all picture frames, sweeping dirt spills with the broom, clearing cobwebs, and watering every plant pot—must be finished alongside sorting all merchandise.
Do I get ability points for cleaning picture frames?
Finishing full shelves and display rows grants points that can be spent on spells like Alchemical Vision, Magnetic Vacuum, and Guide. While sorting rows provides the bulk of your progression points, clearing side tasks contributes to your overall stage completion and grants specific chore achievements (such as those tied to brooms and watering pots).
Where do I find the sponge if I drop it?
The sponge remains wherever you drop it on the floor via right-click.
